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High Point Panthers women's volleyball

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High Point Panthers women's volleyball
UniversityHigh Point University
Head coachRyan Meek (1st season)
ConferenceBig South
LocationHigh Point, North Carolina
Home arenaMillis Athletic Convocation Center (capacity: 1,750)
NicknamePanthers
ColorsPurple and white[1]
   
AIAW/NCAA Tournament appearance
2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023
Conference tournament champion
2010, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023
Conference regular season champion
2008, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023

The High Point Panthers women's volleyball team is an NCAA Division I volleyball team representing High Point University as part of the Big South Conference. They play their home games at Millis Athletic Convocation Center in High Point, North Carolina.[2]

History

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High Point University created a volleyball team in 1973, with the Panthers joining the present-day Conference Carolinas, where they played until the 1997 academic year.[3] The Panthers competed only in the NAIA until 1992, had dual membership with the NAIA and Division II in 1993–1994, and moved up to exclusively Division II in 1995. The program had a spate of successful seasons from 1975 to 1980, winning six straight conference titles and peaking with 42 wins in back-to-back years in 1977–1978. However, the NAIA did not begin sponsoring women's volleyball championships until 1980, and the AIAW did not invite them to its volleyball championship. High Point made the NAIA tournament four times: 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1988. The NAIA volleyball championship has a round-robin format, and the Panthers went 2–12 in their four appearances in the 1980s.[4] In Division II, the Panthers won back-to-back conference championships in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference in 1995–1996. However, this did not result in any NCAA tournament appearances, as the league was a fledgling member of Division II.

The High Point Panthers moved up to Division I and joined the Big South Conference in 1999, and the volleyball team encountered struggles in its first few seasons, losing 27+ games each year from 1999 to 2003. However, head coach Chad Esposito was able to build the program up to 24 wins in 2007 and 26 wins in 2008, winning the team's only shared regular-season championship to date in 2008. The Panthers fell 3–2 to Coastal Carolina in the Big South tournament semifinals that year.[5]

The Panthers were coached by Jason Oliver from 2009 to 2015, and his tenure was highlighted by a conference tournament championship in 2010, where they swept top-seeded Liberty in the final.[6] The Panthers drew No. 12 Duke in the first round, and lost 25–12, 25–20, 25–20.[7]

Current head coach Tom Mendoza was hired in 2016,[8] bringing a history of success with him. Mendoza had previously coached at Creighton, leading the Blue Jays to a 142–57 record in six seasons from 2010 to 2015, five NCAA Tournament bids, and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015. In his first season at High Point, Mendoza guided the Panthers to a 23–10 record and the program's second Big South conference tournament title, a 3–1 triumph against top-seeded Radford.[9] The Panthers faced No. 7 North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, falling 25–13, 25–12, 25–23.[10] 2017 was the team's most successful in the Division I era in terms of RPI, as the team reached as high as 44 by the end of the season. After a 5–6 start to the season, including four losses to top-50 RPI teams, the Panthers won 19 straight matches, becoming the first team in Big South history to go 16–0 in conference, while only conceding 4 sets in conference play. The Panthers handed their rivals Radford two of the Highlanders' four losses in the regular season, but in the conference tournament championship, held at Radford, the Highlanders avenged the regular season losses and the previous championship in a 3–1 victory. However, the Panthers were surprisingly picked as an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament due to their final RPI of 39. They traveled to Salt Lake City to take on Purdue. The Panthers won the first set 25-21 before dropping the next three to finish the season 24–8.

Individual awards

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Big South Rookie of the Year[11]

  • Tracyann Pryce - 1999
  • Lindsey Pickens - 2003
  • Savannah Angel - 2013
  • Molly Livingston - 2015
  • Abby Bottomley - 2017

Big South Coach of the Year

  • Chad Esposito - 2008
  • Tom Mendoza - 2017

Big South Tournament MVP

  • Audie Gonzalez - 2010
  • Haley Barnes - 2016

Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year

  • Molly Barlow - 2012
  • Gabi Mirand - 2015
  • Haley Barnes - 2017

Individual career records (Division I era)

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Record Number Player Years
Kills 1597 Jamie Kaufman 2004-07
Attack % .289 Stephanie Wallin 2007-10
Assists 3982 Kristina Taylor 2005-08
Aces 220 Jamie Kaufman 2004-07
Digs 2416 Julie Hershkowitz 2007-10
Total Blocks 340 Tracyann Pryce 1999-02
Sets Played 488 Julie Hershkowitz 2007-10

Individual single-season records (Division I era)

[edit]
Record Number Player Years
Kills 523 Megan Smith 2010
Attack % .384 Molly Livingston 2017
Assists 1439 Kristina Taylor 2007
Aces 67 Jamie Kaufman 2005
Digs 688 Julie Hershkowitz 2010
Total Blocks 143 Jordan Hefner 2016

Seasons

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Statistics overview
Season Coach Overall Conference Standing Postseason
AIAW Small College Division Independent (1973–1974)
1973 Jennifer Alley 3-10
1974 Jennifer Alley 8-13
AIAW Small College Division Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (1975–1979)
1975 Jennifer Alley 25-12
1976 Jennifer Alley 32-9
1977 Wanda Briley 42-10
1978 Wanda Briley 42-7
1979 Nancy Little 23-15
NAIA Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1980–1992)
1980 Nancy Little 21-18
1981 Nancy Little 16-19
1982 Nancy Little 25-13 NAIA Pool B (1-2 record)
1983 Nancy Little 23-8 NAIA Pool C (1-2 record)
1984 Nancy Little 19-9
1985 Debbie Trogden 28-4
1986 Debbie Trogden 38-9 NAIA Pool C (0-4 record)
1987 Debbie Trogden 23-10
1988 Joe Ellenburg 19-10 NAIA Pool C (0-4 record)
1989 Joe Ellenburg 21-10
1990 Joe Ellenburg 19-8
1991 Joe Ellenburg 18-14
1992 Joe Ellenburg 18-15
Dual membership: NCAA DII and NAIA Carolinas Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1993–1994)
1993 Joe Ellenburg 18-14
1994 Joe Ellenburg/Teresa Faucette 16-23
NCAA DII Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (1995–1996)
1995 Joe Ellenburg/Teresa Faucette 20-9 9-0 1st
1996 Teresa Faucette 26-9 9-0 1st
NCAA DII Independent (1997–1998)
1997 Teresa Faucette 11-20
1998 Jennifer Guzi 8-26
NCAA Division I Big South Conference (1999–Present)
1999 Georgette Crawford 2-27 1-13 T-7th
2000 Georgette Crawford 3-29 2-12 7th
2001 Georgette Crawford 7-27 3-11 7th
2002 Georgette Crawford 7-27 2-12 8th
2003 Chad Esposito 8-28 1-13 8th
2004 Chad Esposito 17-18 5-9 6th
2005 Chad Esposito 16-17 5-9 T-5th
2006 Chad Esposito 10-22 6-8 5th
2007 Chad Esposito 24-9 8-4 3rd
2008 Chad Esposito 26-7 13-3 T-1st
2009 Jason Oliver 17-17 6-10 6th
2010 Jason Oliver 22-13 13-3 2nd NCAA First Round
2011 Jason Oliver 9-21 6-8 7th
2012 Jason Oliver 20-11 9-5 3rd
2013 Jason Oliver 16-15 9-5 3rd
2014 Jason Oliver 13-16 6-8 6th
2015 Jason Oliver 21-10 11-3 2nd
2016 Tom Mendoza 23-10 11-5 3rd NCAA First Round
2017 Tom Mendoza 24-8 16-0 1st NCAA First Round
Total: 838–637 (.568)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Postseason Results

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The Panthers have appeared in 3 NCAA tournaments and 4 NAIA tournaments. Their all-time record is 2–15.

NAIA tournament results

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Year Round Opponents Result
1982 Pool C Kearney (Neb.)
Winthrop
Fort Hays St.		 L 15–9, 15-3
L 16–14, 15-8
W 15–12, 7–15, 15-9
1983 Pool C Southwestern (Tx.)
Franklin (Ind.)
Montana Tech		 L 16–14, 15-12
L 15–12, 15-3
W 15–0, 17-15
1986 Pool C Texas Wesleyan
UW-Milwaukee
Biola
Missouri Western		 L 15–8, 15-5
L 15–7, 15-11
L 15–7, 15-4
L 16–14, 15-9
1988 Pool C Western Oregon
Ouachita Baptist
Southwestern (Tx.)
Fort Lewis		 L 15–6, 15-3
L 15–9, 9–15, 15-10
L 15–11, 15-2
L 14–16, 15–13, 17-15

NCAA tournament results

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Year Round Opponent Result
2010 First round Duke L 12–25, 20–25, 20–25
2016 First round North Carolina L 13–25, 12–25, 23–25
2017 First round Purdue L 25–21, 14–25, 22–25, 12–25

References

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  1. ^ "High Point Colors". Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. ^ "High Point Panthers - volleyball recordbook 2016.pdf" (PDF). High Point Panthers. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "Conference Carolinas History & Roots". Conference Carolinas. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "VB_Championship.pdf" (PDF). NAIA. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  5. ^ "No. 3 Chanticleers Move to Volleyball Finals". Big South Sports. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  6. ^ "No. 2 High Point Wins Big South Volleyball Championship". Big South Sports. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "Panthers Fall to No. 12 Duke in NCAA Tourney". Big South Sports. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Tom Mendoza named HPU volleyball head coach". High Point Panthers. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  9. ^ "Big South Champs: HPU edges Radford in title, 3-1". High Point Panthers. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  10. ^ "HPU's postseason run ends in 3-0 setback at UNC". High Point Panthers. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  11. ^ "VB Record Book 2016.pdf" (PDF). Big South Sports. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
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